Pastoral Healthcare

One of the most important ministries of the Church throughout its history has been providing spiritual care to the sick. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has always being sensitive to the needs of this ministry from the years of the Byzantine Empire up until now. Its clergy are active in providing pastoral care to the ill, both on a parish level and in specialized facilities. read more...

The fact that Emperor Theodore Doucas Lascaris, author of the Great Canon of Supplication, insistently entreats the All-Holy Virgin to redeem him from the anguish of his inner pain bears witness to the fact that he is totally aware of his being and his psychosomatic condition. His humble soul is shaken up by calamities and clouds of misfortune have overcome him, bringing darkness to his heart. In addition to this, temptations have encircled him.

In spite of the fact that he is a strong ruler, this great Emperor does not hide his weaknesses. Neither does he attempt to deny his insecurities by soothing his turmoil with pleasure. In his agony, he does not lose his faith and hope in God who is his strength, his power and his joy; who, as a Father, visits human poverty without losing His Godliness. So as not to distant himself from the bosom of the Father, Theodore asks that the Panagia show her motherly love and intercede so that her Son and God will redeem him from his painful trials and will save the world.

The Emperor knows that as long as he remains in the bosom of the Father and enjoys the love of the All-Holy Mother Theotokos, “all sorrow will end in joy and every struggle will find rest, and every injustice will end in glory. In all, the end of all sorrow for virtue is for one to be with God and to stay with Him forever and to delight in a tranquility that will not end.”*

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*(Maximos the Confessor, Third Century of Chapters on Theology, the Divine Economy, and Virtue and Vice, 44.)